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While plenty of musicians made headlines at Sunday night’s (March 10) Academy Awards ceremony, one star managed to make a big difference.
During its annual Academy Awards viewing party on Sunday, the Elton John AIDS Foundation raised $10.8 million dollars for AIDS research. The money from the event will go toward the organization’s Rocket Fund, a fundraising initiative meant to “redouble the fight against AIDS everywhere,” according to the organization’s website.
“So far, this has been an extraordinary year beyond my wildest dreams, including the honor of achieving the EGOT, but it’s tonight’s gathering that is the ultimate highlight,” John said in a statement following the event. “I’m so grateful to everyone who comes out each year to have a lot of fun and do a whole lot of good together. We’ve been loud and proud about showing compassion and ending the dreadful stigma that follows HIV, and we won’t stop until we achieve our mission.”
The annual party — hosted this year by John, David Furnish, Tiffany Haddish, David Burtka and Neil Patrick Harris — featured a star-studded guest list that included Sharon Stone, Donatella Versace, Danny DeVito and plenty more. During the evening, a multimillion-dollar live auction saw the organization sell off a number of luxury items, including a bedazzled Yamaha piano signed by John, two pinball machines, two pairs of Chopard earrings and a custom-made Rolex for John’s Farewell Yellow Brick Road tour.
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At the night’s close, John performed alongside the evening’s musical guests, R&B-pop trio Gabriels, to his 1989 hit “Are You Ready for Love,” recreating an iconic moment from Glastonbury 2023 when Gabriels lead singer Jacob Lusk joined John onstage for the track.
“Every year, our iconic Oscar Party just gets bigger and better, a testament to the unwavering support of our passionate supporters,” Furnish said in a statement. “In such worrying times with the rise of discriminatory laws against the LGBTQ+ community in the U.S., it’s so important to stand up and raise awareness for the people who need our support the most. The funds raised tonight are helping us enhance access to vital health resources such as HIV testing and medication, making a tangible difference in countless lives. We couldn’t have done it without such a great showing of support.”
King Princess appreciates the culture of pop divas. The “1950” singer (real name Mikaela Straus) was a guest on a recent episode of the Queer the Music podcast, where they opened up about accidentally meeting Christina Aguilera in the studio. “I love when a pop girl is mean,” Straus said, before explaining that they were working […]
In between streams of the newest Ariana Grande album, why not listen to some new tunes from your favorite LGBTQ artists? Billboard Pride is proud to present the latest edition of Queer Jams of the Week, our roundup of some of the best new music releases from LGBTQ artists.
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See latest videos, charts and news
See latest videos, charts and news
From Girl in Red’s new pop-rock jam to Maggie Lindemann’s latest EP, check out just a few of our favorite releases from this week below:
Girl in Red, “DOING IT AGAIN BABY”
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Get ready to rock out with Girl in Red’s latest feel-good anthem. “DOING IT AGAIN BABY,” the titular song off the singer-songwriter’s forthcoming album, is a picture-perfect slice of pop-rock drama, as Girl in Red basks in her own self image. Celebrating her fashion, her sound and even her taste in vintage wines, this instantly irresistable jam is sure to help you party your way through the weekend.
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Maggie Lindemann, HEADSPLIT
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For all the folks who get caught in their own head, Maggie Lindemann’s new EP HEADSPLIT is for you. On this eight-track collection of absolute bangers, the rising star takes her classic pop-punk sound and elevates it with ease, blending in some goth-rock, hyperpop and industrial for good measure. Singing about everything from red flags (“Deprecating”) to crippling anxiety (“Taking Over Me”), Lindemann makes sure that HEADSPLIT lives up to its title, in both ear-splitting sound and mind-bending lyrics.
Rainbow Kitten Surprise, “Superstar”
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Following the departure of their bassist Charlie Holt earlier this week, indie rock group Rainbow Kitten Surprise is ready to move forward into their fantasy with their latest single. “Superstar” sees the group taking a more pop-focused approach to their well-established sound — tightening the production and layering in some delicate guitars that build to a pounding chorus, where lead singer Ela Melo finds reassurance from her partner. From start to finish, there’s simply no denying that “Superstar” delivers on its promise.
Allison Ponthier, “Skin”
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Leave it to singer-songwriter Allison Russell to deliver a series of heartbreaking confessions with a soft smile. Throughout “Skin,” the singer drops lines that will make your heart drop (“She’s the people’s princess, pitchfork songstress, and I’m a gross fly on the wall” lands like a gut punch), all while delivering her dreamiest, most blissed-out sound to date. It’s a strange dichotomy that works in perfect synchronicity, as Ponthier yearns for the idealized version of herself over her most ideal song to date.
Jon Foreman feat. Joy Oladokun, “In Bloom”
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You might not immediately think that the lead singer of Switchfoot and a fast-rising folk singer would make a good pairing on a song — yet with “In Bloom,” Jon Foreman and Joy Oladokun prove that they most certainly do. The soft strums and gentle drum beats underscore the duo’s introspective lyrics throughout the gorgeous new song, as they look for hope in a world where it often feels in short supply, beautifully playing off one another’s voices with each passing verse. Spring may not quite be here yet, but with “In Bloom,” it might as well be.
Check out all of our picks on Billboard’s Queer Jams of the Week playlist below:
After Tennessee announced a new law in February that would make it harder for same-sex couples to get married in the state, singer-songwriter Cassadee Pope is taking her last name to heart. In a Reel posted on her Instagram on Monday (March 4), The Voice alum shared her distress at Tennessee’s new law. “I don’t […]
With the massive success of the Netflix series Wednesday, the latest episode of RuPaul’s Drag Race decided to offer its own take on the gothic teenager’s iconic look with another design challenge.
On Friday’s episode (aired March 1), the remaining queens were provided with black fabric and little else, as they attempted to try their hands — or more accurately, their sewing machines — at making neo-goth couture garments.
Proving herself yet again to be this season’s queen of fashion, Q managed to make a massive coat-dress that immediately impressed the judges, earning the star her second win of the season. Meanwhile, the judges told Plasma that her fashion needed a transfusion, whule Mhi’ya Iman LePaige couldn’t flip her way out of a third bottom placement.
Lip synching to a sped-up, TikTok-inspired version of Lady Gaga’s “Bloody Mary,” the bottom two gave their best renditions of Wednesday Addams’ disaffected dancing. But in the end, the Queen of Flips managed to pull out another transformative performance, sending Plasma packing.
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Below, Billboard chats with Plasma about the difficulties of a design challenge, why she doesn’t think fellow contestant Dawn “sabotaged” her, and how Drag Race is changing Broadway for the better.
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What, to you, has been the most surprising thing about the last couple months of fans getting to see you on the show?
Oh, that people don’t think I’m an absolute flop! I’m serious! The way in which I have been received as the most irritating queen — someone posted a TikTok that said, “Plasma is like if Miss Cracker snorted Jan.” First, I was like, “Ouch.” And then second, it was like, “Wow, what an amazing compliment.” I feel like I’ve been embraced in this warm, self-referential hug from the fandom, and I do really feel fabulous.
I have to say, my personal favorite of those kinds of funny reads was when Megami posted what she would’ve said in the reading challenge, and she said, “Plasma is known for her BFA — Being F–king Annoying.”
Girl! [Laughs.] I mean, “Being F–king Annoying” was brilliant and we were denied an opportunity to see her read me for filth on television. But it’s all good, Xunami really took the cake with that Jan. 6th read. Now, just to clear the air, since that challenge I’ve had a couple of people genuinely ask me where I was on Jan. 6th — I was at home in Texas, watching in shock and despair like we all were. It was definitely red territory, but not as red as a damn insurrection. Anyways, Xunami really ate me up with that one.
There’s been some comparison between you and Abbott Elementary star Chris Perfetti, who has since commented on the comparisons and said how complimented he feels by association. What was that like, seeing him respond that way?
I believe in the power of manifestation, and with those memes, I had been manifesting an opportunity to get in touch with Chris Perfetti and with the Abbott Elementary team. Like, for months, I have been manifesting this idea that I look so much like the gay teacher on Abbott, and I would love any opportunity to perform or to act with these people I respect in pop culture! I had this wild idea of me getting on the show for an episode and playing his brother, and maybe it’s a Drag Queen Story Hour storyline with the school, or some kind of narrative that isn’t so like, “Look at me, I’m a Drag Race girl doing a cameo on a show!” No, I want to be able to go on as a character under Quinta [Brunson]’s vision, that’s the dream.
So, when he actually spoke about it and said he loved me and gave this very humbling compliment, I fell out. Like, that is the impact of Drag Race! It meant literally the entire world to me, and I would be so thrilled to work with him someday. He seems like an absolute gem.
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The Drag Race impact is certainly having a much bigger effect lately — I mean this year alone, we have two former girls from the show, Jinkx Monsoon and Marcia Marcia Marcia, set to perform in blockbuster shows on Broadway. What does that tell you about how Drag Race, or maybe even the theater industry itself, is changing culture?
It’s terribly exciting, we love to see all of this happening. But I’m actually really glad you brought up both Jinkx and Marcia. Because Jinkx of course is a superstar, a legend. But Marcia is also making her debut in a queer-focused role, not a drag-focused role — and that’s important, because it tells me that the show is now reaching a mainstream capacity for understanding a queer experience that doesn’t necessarily hinge on drag. That’s incredible, because there’s so much more to the drag experience than putting on your wig and costume and going out and doing your three-and-a-half-minute Barbra Streisand ballad, in my case. It’s cool to see Broadway also starting to reflect a more human experience in queerness.
So yeah, I’m very excited about that direction, especially for Broadway today, because it feels like for every Cabaret and Chicago we get, we’re also getting stuff like A Beautiful Noise: The Neil Diamond Musical. Or, as I joked as Patti LuPone on my Reels, “What the hell do we need a Jimmy Buffet musical for?” And all love and respect to the performers in the companies of those shows, a gig is a gig and I respect the hustle! Patti also said “Broadway is an amusement park right now,” and when I see people like Marcia getting Cabaret, or I see Jinkx starting in Chicago, and the going to Little Shop of Horrors, and playing Carnegie Hall, or even Peppermint starring in Head Over Heels on Broadway [in 2018] … it just feels like we’re heading the right way, thanks to all of these girls using the platform to change the narrative on Broadway and in entertainment.
Well, we should at least talk a little bit about the show. I was a little gagged when they announced a third design challenge at the top of this episode. I appreciated in Untucked when you said that sewing is a fundamental part of drag that you also just don’t like. What is it about designing garments that doesn’t speak to you?
What is it that Violet Chachki quote? “If you call yourself a designer but you can’t sew, you are a fashion secretary.” And girl, I am the proudest fashion secretary out there! I have what I think is really great taste, and a good eye for design — I just do not necessarily have the technique or the background in sewing and creation to make it happen for myself. That said, I have an immense appreciation for everyone who sews.
Now I’m going to get on my soapbox — because on the show, people say, “She’s not a seamstress, so she doesn’t have the talent.” But my perspective is, I actually can sew, and if I had time, I would love to be a seamstress. However, the Drag Race industry waits for no one, so if you’re not coming in with an expert capability to sew and an expert knowledge of the sewing machine, how the hell are you going to make an impressive garment in 16 hours, like we’re being asked to on Drag Race? Like, I’m good at crafting, but crafting and sewing are two households, both alike in dignity, you know? I am proud and thrilled to get to stand alongside fashion girls like Q and Nymphia and Dawn, who killed this challenge.
Speaking of Dawn, there were some insinuations from the judges about Dawn “sabotaging” you by saying that you should try a different silhouette in this challenge, and you were quick to say that you did not feel that way in Untucked. Where are you at with that today?
Look, for the people who are going to try and claim that she “sabotaged” me, I still do not feel that happened. She just gave me an idea that I ran with. I am not a seamstress, I chose to do something that was different from what I’d done. If I wanted to wear a floor-length trumpet gown, I f–king would have, because I won a challenge in one of those two weeks ago.
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Before we run out of time, I wanted to know, what music have you been listening to lately?
I’m still blasting Jessie Ware’s “Free Yourself” album [That! Feels Good!], I just cannot get enough. My dream collaboration would be recording a jazz cover with Jessie Ware.
Puerto Rican hitmaker Young Miko is set to be honored with the Impact award at the 2024 Billboard Women in Music event on Wednesday, March 6. Just ahead of the ceremony, Billboard takes a deep dive into Young Miko’s chart success, which includes two entries on the Billboard Hot 100. The 25-year-old artist born María Victoria […]
With a title like All Born Screaming, you’d be forgiven for assuming St. Vincent’s upcoming new album might be a dark affair. But according to the artist, one song in particular pays loving tribute to a late icon. Speaking to The Guardian in an interview published on Saturday (March 2), the singer — otherwise known […]
Sam Smith got to show off a different side of their performing skills on Saturday (March 2), when they stomped down the runway for Paris Fashion Week. Serving as one of the models for the Vivienne Westwood Womenswear Fall/Winter 2024-2025, Smith modeled two distinct, punk-inspired looks in the iconic fashion brand’s latest collection. In one […]
With Leap Day officially behind us, let’s use the extra time we’ve been given to jam out to some new songs from our favorite queer artists. Billboard Pride is proud to present the latest edition of Queer Jams of the Week, our roundup of some of the best new music releases from LGBTQ artists.
Explore
See latest videos, charts and news
See latest videos, charts and news
From St. Vincent’s furious new rock song to Fletcher’s latest pop confessional, check out just a few of our favorite releases from this week below:
St. Vincent, “Broken Man”
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“What’re you looking at? Who the hell do you think I am?” When you hear St. Vincent snarl those lyrics on the chorus of her bombastic new single “Broken Man,” you understand that there’s no “character” here — it’s Annie Clark, in all her glory. But the star’s scornful lyrics are just one piece of the puzzle that is “Broken Man,” as the self-produced track gradually ramps up its industrial furor with each passing moment. Guitar chords become blown out sirens, drums invade like an approaching phalanx of soldiers (thanks to all-star assists from Mark Guiliana and Dave Grohl) and Clark’s voice growls with intensity as she asks again; what are you looking at? The answer, it turns out, is an artist at the pinnacle of her craft.
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Fletcher, “Doing Better”
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What happens in the aftermath of releasing a much-discussed breakthrough hit? Fletcher would like you to know exactly what goes down on “Doing Better,” her latest pop banger dedicated to the fallout from her last pop banger, “Becky’s So Hot.” Written in the form of a letter to her ex, Fletcher immediately establishes the myriad ways Fletcher’s been doing better since “making [your girlfriend] go viral” — new cars, “bougie IVs,” performing with Miley Cyrus — before declaring that, at the end of the day, it didn’t change as much as she’d have liked. “My tummy still hurts,” she opines. “Why does better feel worse?”
Olly Alexander, “Dizzy”
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Eurovision is about to get flipped on its head thanks to Olly Alexander’s new single. Shedding the Years & Years label and moving forward as a solo artist, Alexander’s new single “Dizzy” — which will serve as the United Kingdom’s entry in the 2024 Eurovision Song Contest — spins his established electropop sound up to new heights. The It’s a Sin star’s remarkable voice remains as clear as ever, while the production from Danny L Harle elevates the song into vertiginous reverie, mimicking the lyrics’ giddy passion in flowing scales that keep the song in a state of perpetual, blissful motion.
Mannequin Pussy, I Got Heaven
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Where desire and defiance meet, you’ll find Mannequin Pussy’s ridiculously good new album I Got Heaven. Equal parts protest and proposition, I Got Heaven sees the Philadelphia punk rockers hosting a carnival of raw emotion, between telling bigots to sit and spin on the album’s raucous title track and demanding nothing short of pleasure on the raging “Aching.” It’s that rare punk record that keeps juking right when you think there’s a left turn coming, perhaps best encapsulated by Marisa Dabice’s insistent affirmation on “Loud Bark”; “I want to be a danger,” she croons. “I want to be adored.”
Cat Burns, “Alone”
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Stuck in a dating rut? Cat Burns feels your pain on “Alone,” the UK singer-songwriter’s stunning new song detailing her struggle with loneliness. Diaristic lyrics detail Burns’ lack of dating experience, and her frustration with trying to catch up to her peers while still looking for love for the right reasons. With each passing lyric, her voice grows more emotive as she declares that “I don’t wanna be a pessimist, but I’m getting kind of pissed at this” — a feeling anyone in the dating scene can understand to their core.
Isaac Dunbar, “Backseat Girl”
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While he’s made a name for himself for his theatrical output, Isaac Dunbar is a performer of many different faces. On “Backseat Girl,” the singer takes on the persona of the titular background character, perennially pushed to the margins of the story, yearning for their moment in the spotlight. For fans of Dunbar, though, there’s still plenty of his signature flair in “Backseat Girl” — between an instantly-catchy ’70s rock melody and his campy vocal choices, the singer delivers plenty of drama through this tenderly written ballad.
Jade LeMac, Confessions (Deluxe Version)
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Jade LeMac would like to take a well-deserved victory lap. Following the release of her applauded EP Confessions, the singer’s new deluxe version of the project gives fans just enough new content to properly recontextualize the music they already love. Whether she’s literally critiquing her lover’s technique (“Bad Kisser”) or responding in kind to unwanted negging (“Pick a Fight”), LeMac leaves it all on the page as she proves yet again why she’s the name to watch in the pop space.
Check out all of our picks on Billboard’s Queer Jams of the Week playlist below:
Over the last year, Reneé Rapp quickly became one of the internet’s favorite celebrities thanks to her phenomenal singing voice and her trenchant humor. Now, the Mean Girls star would like to get real for a second.
In an interview for the cover of The Hollywood Reporter, Rapp spoke candidly about her song “Snow Angel,” the lead single off her 2023 album of the same name, and how it was inspired by an “incredibly traumatic” event involving sexual assault. “I still feel like I’m sorting through those feelings … and it feels weird to talk about because I don’t remember it,” she said. “I recently was like, ‘I actually don’t want to follow this person on Instagram anymore because they left me at a club to get drugged’ … I woke up on a bathroom stall, face up in The Beverly Hilton with blood on my pants. And had been left alone at that point for, like, seven hours.”
That specific scenario not only inspired the lyrics of the song, but also Rapp’s viral performance of the track on Saturday Night Live. “I was like, ‘OK, well, when we do SNL, if I’m doing this [song], I am doing this,’” she said. “I will be on a red floor and I need to start laying down because that’s how I woke up. And there should be red underneath me and I should be in all white.”
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Since releasing the song, fans have praised Rapp’s candor and celebrated the track for its depiction of trauma, which is a discussion the singer says she had hoped to spark. “Ultimately, I’m not making music to just make music. I’m making music to start conversations. My idols make culture, my idols start conversation,” she said, adding that plenty of fans have brought their own perceptions of the song to the table. “I wanted to have ‘Snow Angel’ come out and it be confusing and left up to interpretation. And I still see so many funny takes now that are like, ‘Well, this song is clearly about when she was doing heroin.’ And I’m like, ‘You’re amazing, and I love your creativity.’”
Elsewhere in her wide-ranging interview, Rapp spoke about pitching herself to her label as “the bisexual Justin Bieber.” (Rapp now identifies as a lesbian.) “That boy is still cute to me, sorry. And he also, I think, has a similar [love] of R&B,” she explained. “He reminds me of a really sexy lesbian. Just the way he walks around and moves onstage and always has this demeanor that’s chill, sings his a– off, dresses really cool.”
The singer added that her role as Leighton on the hit Max series The Sex Lives of College Girls profoundly impacted the way she came out publicly. “Being celebrated for being out because of a TV show or celebrity or success or something was really interesting because I think it forced a lot of people in my life and my family to have to accept me in a weird way,” she explained. “That [show] was the most parallel experience in my life, and I remember doing that specific coming-out scene and not acting at all. At all. I was just sobbing.”
Rapp is currently closing out the final dates of her Snow Hard Feelings world tour in the U.K. During a recent show in Paris, Rapp performed a cover of Beyoncé’s 2016 country track “Daddy Lessons” in celebration of the superstar’s return to the genre — which prompted Queen Bey to send the “Poison Poison” singer a bouquet of flowers as a thank you gift.
If you or anyone you know needs support, you can reach out to the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network (RAINN). The organization provides free, confidential support to sexual assault victims. Call RAINN’s National Sexual Assault Hotline (800.656.HOPE) or visit the anti-sexual violence organization’s website for more information.
